Trump Foundation sued for "illegal conduct"
The new New York State prosecutor sued President Donald Trump and his three sons, Donald Junior, Ivanka and Eric, to dissolve the Donald Trump Foundation on Thursday. And she does this, accusing the family of having used the charitable organization as a "checkbook" to raise money that he later used to promote his hotel business, pay legal bills and finance the election campaign, "regardless of its purpose or legality." Prosecutor Barbara Underwood said in her decision that the Trump "violated state and federal laws in a long and persistent manner." The investigation, she further specifies, determined that they raised $ 2.8 million "in a manner designed to influence the 2016 presidential election under the direction and control of the highest offices in Trump's presidential campaign."
Underwood specifically quotes Corey Lewandowski, the campaign manager. "He dictated the times, the amounts and the receivers of the funds obtained by the organization for charity," she says. She points out in this regard that the investigation identified that there were at least five transactions that were illegal "because the main beneficiary was Trump or the businesses he controlled." Among the evidence presented by the prosecutor there is an email from Lewandowski in which shows how were the communications that had the campaign with representatives of the Foundation. And she supports it with a photo of the candidate in a charity event held just before the Iowa primary, with a woman holding a large $ 100,000 check.
Donald Trump counterattacked immediately on Twitter - his favorite method of communicating with voters - after the suit was announced to his foundation by the Attorney General of the State of New York. In this way, Trump, who had no scheduled events on his return from the Singapore summit, was employed in depth in the social network. "The New York Democrats, and now his unfortunate (who has run away) FG Eric Schneiderman, are doing everything they can against a foundation that took $ 18,800,000, and gave charity more money than the one obtained, 19,200. 000. I will not reach an agreement in this case," Trump concluded, referring to the fact that he could plan to return the prosecutor to the coup in court.
"Our research reveals that the Trump Foundation became little more than an account book of Trump's payments, its businesses and its non-profit organizations," said Attorney General Barbara Underwood, regarding the investigations that began. Schneiderman, forced to resign after the scandal for mistreating several women, previously cited. "This is not how private foundations should work and my office tries to make the Foundation and its directors responsible for any misuse of charitable funds," Underwood insisted. The spokeswoman of the Trump Foundation, Amanda Miller, indicated that "this demand is a clear example of the worst of the policy". "The reason why the Foundation donated more than what it raised is because there were hardly any expenses," Miller recalled, noting that the aforementioned dissolution was proposed more than a year and a half ago by the Foundation.
These are insufficient explanations for the prosecutor's office, which has evidence that the foundation raised more than $ 2.8 million to influence the 2016 elections. According to Underwood, both the name and funds of the Foundation were used to promote the campaign. And she explains that none of its activities were authorized by its board of directors.
"The investigation determined that the council existed only as something nominal," she says, "because it has never met since 1999. Trump was the one who made all the decisions," she says. In detail with the movements of the money includes a payment of $ 100,000 related to a lawsuit against the golf club of Mar-a-Lago in Florida. She also cites another $ 158,000 credit to settle another lawsuit against the Trump National Golf Club. In addition, she identifies a payment of $ 10,000 for the acquisition of a painting that is exhibited in the Trump National Doral. Besides the dissolution and return of the 2.8 million, the prosecutor's lawsuit seeks that the directors of the Donald Trump Foundation be prohibited from participating in the councils of other charitable organizations. In the case of the President it would be for 10 years while for his three children the disqualification would be one. "There was a pattern of illegal behavior persists," she says, "which lasted more than a decade. Charitable organizations should not work like that," insists Underwood.
The result of the investigation was transmitted to the IRS and to the US electoral commission to "identify possible violations in federal legislation" that may be sanctioned. Donald Trump created the foundation in 1988 to manage his philanthropic facet. An investigation by The Washington Post during the election campaign revealed that the employer used the charity for profit, by allocating a portion of the money to pay claims. The then Republican candidate called for the closure of the Clinton Foundation, which he described as "corrupt companies" used by his rival for the presidential ones to make a profit.